Crazy Year - Crazy Propagation

What can I say, this year has - for me personally - been a crazy year full of ups and downs.  My venture in hamdom has also been very interesting.

First of all, I have been appointed as the Amateur Radio Emergency Services Emergency Coordinator for Dubuque County, Iowa.  That is a big step and has (thankfully) been without any needed emergency coordination on my part.  In March, I went to the Iowa Section ARES leadership meeting in Ames, IA and then attended our district meeting this weekend in Iowa City.  The learning curve is pretty steep so far, but I have made a lot of friendships with the other EC's in the state, so at least I can fall back on that.  I have also finally completed 14 different FEMA NIMS (National Incident Management System) courses to better my education for this position.

I have noticed that the "Old Man in the Sky" has been chugging along and making radio propagation fantastic.  Unfortunately, I have been so busy that I have not been able to really take advantage of it.  I did, however, take advantage of the Sporadic E Propagation on 6m yesterday and made my first QSO on the "Magic Band." On begins a journey in collecting grid squares.

Once again this year, I have been chosen to be the Field Day chairperson (let me correct that - no one else wanted to take it off of my hands).  I love Field Day as it is a time for me to celebrate my anniversary of getting my first ticket in June 2010 when I pulled my Technician License out of the mail on the first day of our Field Day operation.  I still remember the excitement I had when I showed up at the FD site and opened up the envelope and signed it in front of all those club members that were present.  It was official and I wanted to operate the rig, but was scared that I would screw something up, so I did some logging instead.  My, how long ago that seems and how far I have come from that day.

I have also started tackling my biggest hurdle in Amateur Radio - CW.  I was given a gift of a program that uses "sound-a-likes" to learn the sounds of the letters and numbers.  I have put off my study temporarily to focus on getting Field Day together, but so far, it has been easy to remember that K is kan-ga-roo and WET is No-Wa-Wa  Eeek  Tall (or WET is dit-dah-dah dit dah or .-- . -).  See, I will eventually get this, it is only a matter of time.

So, I have updated you all on where I am and you can see some of the future in learning code and such.  Now time to get these Field Day invites out.

Hope to see you all on the bands and waterfalls - Have a great Field Day everyone.

73

CQ, CQ, CQ 2012

Well, we finally made it to the year 2012.  Sunspots are on the increase as are the band conditions.  This is set to be an awesome year and I am really looking forward to it.

As you may or may not know, I do not make New Year Resolutions, opting instead to set goals.  While you may think they are the same, I see them as somehow different.  These are just my ham radio goals (the rest are featured on my other blog). 

Reviewing the goals I set last year:

• Obtain my Extra License - my biggest and most important goal;
• Assemble my home shack - mobile is great, but being out of the elements is better;
• Get involved in more contests; and
• Earn my WAS (Worked All States).

Above all else, I plan on having a lot of fun with this hobby.  

I did all except for earning my WAS, so that goes to the top of the new list, but what else...

OK, I am back.  I have thought it out and here we go with the list for 2012.

• Earn my WAS (Worked All States)
• QSL 100% - I have some generic cards that I designed rather quickly on the computer and have been using.
• Catch up on the backlog of QSL cards to send out.
• Get caught up on LoTW.
• More contesting.
• Make my 500th and 1000th QSO.
• Get digital running in my home shack.
• Spend at least an hour each day on the air.
• Elmer at least one person.
• As the club secretary for our local club, I need to get the minutes from the meetings posted online within 24 hours.

In addition to my goals, I have something else that has entered into the ham radio picture.  I have been asked to take over as the Amateur Radio Emergency Services (ARES) Emergency Coordinator for Dubuque County, Iowa.  

I am looking forward to 2012 and hope that everyone else is.  This is going to be an exciting year.

So, time is wasting here.  I hope each and every one of you has all the best in 2012 and I hope to work you all on the bands.

73